Garfield County School District Superintendent, John Dodds, spent September visiting the district communities to present and gather information about potentially moving GCSD to a four-day school week. The school board has asked Dodds to see if there is interest throughout the county.
The board believes the move could improve the “quality of life” of students, families, and employees. The district and the board don’t have a specific agenda with the move but seek to gather information from the communities on their preference.
Piute School District moved to a four-day school week last year, and Wayne School District followed suit this fall.
Dodds explained state requirements for school districts. A school calendar must have 180 days adding up to 990 hours of “seat time.” Passing and lunch periods are not included in the 990 hours. The state has made exceptions to the 180-day requirement for some schools which have petitioned, but it has been consistent on maintaining the 990 hours.
Dodds gave an example of what a typical day under the four-day week would look like. Elementary schools would need to add around 30 minutes a day and high schools would have to add 50 minutes. Because of the district bussing, however, school start and end times may need to match between elementary and secondary schools.
Some pros of the change include cost/resource saving — money saved from cutting out Fridays can be reinvested into the schools in other ways. A four-day week has the potential to increase teacher retention and satisfaction and decrease student absenteeism. Students and families who have had a four-day week have in general liked the change and report less stress and fatigue.
Challenges with making the change include the stress of readjusting to a new schedule. Another concern is that at-risk students are disproportionately affected by the change in negative ways. As an example, Dodds explained that some students may miss two meals a week because they are not in school on Fridays. Delinquency is also a potential concern.
The district is asking parents, employees, and community members to take a short survey to gauge the interest in changing the calendar. A link to the survey can be found at garfk12.org at the bottom of the home page. The board will discuss the change more in depth in the October board meeting and will vote on a direction in the November board meeting.
– The Byway